There are some noticeable differences in the AOL.com Mail website when compared with the AOL Desktop versions. You’ll probably notice a few new AOL features as well, such as Calendar, Events, and To-Do lists. On the AOL Mail website you can also utilize AIM for instant messaging similar to that offered in the AOL Desktop versions. You should also see a list of Contacts, which should include the same people from your Address Book in the AOL Desktop versions. On the AOL.com Mail website you should see the same messages in your Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Spam, and Trash folders as you would see in the AOL Desktop versions. To get started, go to click the Mail (envelope) icon in the upper-right of the website, and sign on with your usual AOL screenname and password.
There’s basically nothing you need to do to make the change from the free AOL Desktop to the AOL.com services, besides learning how to access and use them. Furthermore, your email, address book, and instant messenger (IM) data is already automatically synced with the AOL.com services. Almost all of the AOL Desktop features and content are accessible directly on the Internet via a typical web browser, such as Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox. The AOL Desktop is just basically a shell interface to AOL.com,, and other third-party websites anyway.
If you don’t want to pay the $4.99 per month fee to use AOL Desktop Gold, think about migrating to the free email and other services they offer via the AOL.com Mail website. I did notice some changes to the Sign On, Email, and IM interfaces, but I’d call those relatively minor when compared to the current free AOL Desktop version 9.8.
The Gold version is very similar to the prior versions and your data is migrated over. If you’re using AOL Desktop and you want the very minimum amount of change to your AOL experience, perhaps signup for AOL Desktop Gold when you’re given the ultimatum by AOL.